of the muscles are
accumulating and proving harmful.

After a week of such exercises the following modification of them is
recommended:

1. Inhale with the lips slightly apart.

2. Gradually increase the length of the time the breath is held, but
let it never exceed a few seconds.

3. Through open lips allow the breath to pass out, but with extreme
slowness. The student should try to increase this last, somewhat,
daily, as it is above all what is required in singing, and also in
speaking, though to a somewhat less degree--a slow, regulated
expulsion of the breath.

If when the chest is full of air the subject gently raises the arms
over the head, or directs them backward, he will experience a sense of
pressure on the chest. If this be carefully done, its effect is to
strengthen, and it is especially valuable for those inclined to stoop.
The recommendation to inspire through the open lips applies only when
one is in a room, or in the open air when it is warm enough and free
from dust. But the student should learn to inspire through the
slightly open mouth, as to breathe through the nose in speaking, and
especially in singing, is objectionable for several reasons which can
be better explained later; so that the rule is to _breathe through the
nose when not using the voice, and through the mouth when one does_.

Though all the exercises thus far referred to tend to develop the
diaphragm and abdominal muscles, these may be strengthened by special
exercises. The diaphragm is the soft floor of the chest, and must at
once bear the strain of the air that acts on the approximated vocal
bands, and assist in applying that pressure with just the amount of
force required, and no more; hence it is important that this muscle be
both strong and under perfect control. This large central muscle is
probably not only the most generally effective of all the respiratory
muscles, but has an action more precise and often more delicate, more
nicely controlled, than that of any other. It is possible to make very
powerful movements of this muscle, and an exercise that will cause it
to descend deeply and remain in a tense condition is valuable. To
effect this, one pushes it down as far as possible, and holds it there
for a few seconds, then permits it to relax gradually. The extent to
which this is successful can be inferred from the degree to which the
abdominal wall bulges forward.

The sudden though slight movements required in those